Marami Marketing Group

When it comes to the latest trends in entertainment, I’m running about 5 years behind.

My wife and I decided to get rid of our cable and TiVo subscriptions a few years ago since we didn’t watch much of it anyway.

But thanks to Netflix we’ve “rediscovered” some pretty great stuff.

For example, we’re just NOW getting into Lost.  I hear it was a pretty big thing for a few years.

It’s such a fascinating series on many levels, but one of my favorite recurring themes is the concept of “rebirth”.

Every episode focuses on one of the main characters, weaving their present life on the island with flashbacks of their backstory in the “real world”.

For example, there’s a guy on the island named John Locke.

He’s pretty quiet at first, but then he started to do things like hunting & tracking wild boar, mentoring a couple of the youger survivors, and even building a bamboo cradle for a newborn baby.

Those acts of contribution really elevated his status on the island as someone that you could trust and respect.

Now here’s the funny part…

After all that, when one of the other guys asked him what he did “back in the real world”, Locke told him the truth… that he was a collections manager for a box company.

WHAT??

But you know what, the survivors still respected and followed Locke.

That’s how we need to be in our businesses.

Give so much value to prospects and customers RIGHT NOW so that any doubt is set aside.

Create your own little “island” in your city and/or industry where you deliver exactly what your other “survivors” need, positioning yourself as the go-to resource.

If this idea appeals to you and you want some help with it, give me a call at 909-297-1662 and we can set up a strategy session to make it happen.

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

Keywords:

If you’re looking to attract more local customers by using Google Places, you’ve probably noticed something different.

While most of the changes and trends I monitor in online marketing are ripples, this one caused a big enough wave that I thought you should know about it.

Last Thursday the Big G modified what customers see on your listing. Here are the most notable changes:

• Reviews from 3rd party sites like Yelp! and Citysearch have disappeared
• List of mentions/citations from around the Internet has disappeared
• Additional Details about your business have disappeared
• Business description has disappeared (apparently a bug that Google is working on fixing)

One thing to note is that Google says these modifications are primarily aesthetic.

Google reps have stated, “So just because we’re not showing it, doesn’t mean it’s not helpful for us to have — it helps our system ensure that your organic listing appears and ranks appropriately on Google and Google Maps when potential customers perform searches related to your service.”

If you’ve taken my Google Places Success Blueprint training, you remember that there’s nothing you could do to DIRECTLY affect your reviews or citations, although you can influence them.

However, you CAN directly affect the Additional Details area (a key strategy to increase your relevance in Google’s eyes), which you can still see today in your Google Places Dashboard.

IN OTHER WORDS, continue to populate all the available fields for your Places listing, including your photos and videos.

And, as always, continue encouraging your customers/clients and partners to post positive reviews about your business. If you need help creating a system to do that, give my office a call at 909-297-1662.

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

So there I was, standing in line on Friday 12:37am, taking part in history.

Of course I’m referring to the opening of the final Harry Potter movie.

Now, I’m not a cloak-wearing, wand waving, lightning-bolt-tattoo-on-the-forehead uber-fan or anything, but I have enjoyed the movies.

One character in particular that I’ve really liked is the Hogwarts Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore.  If you’re not familiar with the books or movies, Dumbledore is one of the main characters that mentors Harry Potter throughout the series.

One of Dumbledore’s famous lines to Harry is, “Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.”

This sage advice comes to aid Harry at many critical points in the series, usually when Harry is so concerned with protecting his friends and family that he tries in vain to carry the entire burden himself.

According to a recent survey, it seems that Harry Potter isn’t the only one that is heeding this advice… so are many small business owners.

• More than 40% report they need help for better local search rankings
• 37% say they need help using Facebook, Twitter and other social media
• Nearly 35% need help with email marketing promotions

Of course, when anyone asks me for advice I immediately ask, “Do you REALLY want to know, or are you just making conversation?”

The study also shows that many are at least somewhat serious about getting help, backing up their requests with the “ultimate” vote: their wallets.

A vast majority are going down the DIY path with 23% planning to spend between $1000-$5000. 14% plan to spend less than $1000.

On the other hand, 16% have allocated $5000 or more of their budgets to improving their online efforts, indicating a preference towards outsourcing the work to experts.

So what about you?

Are you willing to ask for help?

If you are, then here’s your chance…

Simply COMMENT BELOW and tell me exactly what you’d like help with.  I’ve asked other people to do the same.

It’s best if you phrase your request in the form of a specific question.  For example, “How do I turn my Facebook fans into real sales?” or “What’s the best way to grow my email list?”

Anyone that COMMENTS BELOW asking for some help (a question, clarification, or other request on anything regarding Internet marketing, marketing strategy, copywriting, and all the other things you’ve gotten to know me for) will get a report back from me that compiles ALL the questions asked of me, along with my answers.  (alternatively you can send an email to info [at] maramimarketing [dot] com)

Again, in order to get the compiled Q&A from me, you need to be one of those few that are asking for help.  So not only will you get an answer for your own question, you’ll get answers for things you probably would never have thought of asking.

Just a little something I learned from Dumbledore.

Or you can go it alone… it’s up to you.

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

Keywords:

Now by Titanic I’m not referencing the big ol’ steamer that hit the iceberg on its first outing. Don’t be like this one. That would be bad.

I’m talking about the Oscar-winning MOVIE about the Titanic. This is the one you want to “make like.” Why?

Because it didn’t just win Best Picture… it SWEPT the 1998 Academy Awards, winning 11 out of 14 nominations.

Up to that point the movie had already pulled in over $1 billion. But its massive Oscar success allowed it to stay in the theaters for another 7 months, prompted thousands that had ALREADY seen it to see it again, and ushered thousands more that hadn’t yet seen it to watch for the first time. “It won ALL those awards? Well then it MUST be good!”

In those 7 months it eeked out another $800 million in box office sales. Imagine having THAT kind of response.

I don’t know about you, but that’s what I call DOMINATION!

Make like Titanic? Indeed.

Think about how you could do this kind of sweep in your marketing. Put yourself in that “category of one” where you’re so dominant that your customers have no choice but to come back to you again and again.

Lots of different ways you could approach this, but here’s where it’s gotta start:

THINK BIGGER

Simple, I know. And it works.

I had to do it myself a few weeks back with a test my team had put together. I was VERY skeptical, but it worked out AMAZINGLY well (http://www.maramimarketing.com/thinkbigger). So well, in fact, that as a result I’ll be offering it very shortly as a new service.

Just forget about “realistic” for the moment. Don’t worry about HOW you can make it happen. Simply give yourself permission to accept that there are even bigger possibilities.

You may surprise yourself.

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

P.S. For the record, I too contributed to the Titanic fund, having watched it three times in the theater. I couldn’t help it… that Leo is SO dreamy!

That’s what my friend Croix (pronounced kroy) has now after finishing his cross-country run.  I saw the pictures, and it was kinda gross.

Oh, and by “cross-country” I mean LITERALLY across the country.  He ran from San Diego to New York City in 100 days. http://www.dreambigactbig.com

He blogged all about it every day of his trek, so I got to see and hear all about it.  At one point he was smack-dab in the middle of Alabama when they had all those tornadoes go through.

Truly amazing and inspiring stuff.

When I think of the scale of what he accomplished, while it was phenomenal, it really came down to three simple things:

• knowing where he was starting from
• knowing where he wanted to end up
• putting one foot in front of the other

I firmly believe that most people don’t get the things they want in life or business because one of those things is missing.

Take online marketing for example.  Most businesses don’t put much strategic thought into what they’re doing – whether it’s putting up a website, shooting videos, or Twitbook-ing.

Don’t get me wrong.  Action is great.  It’s the thing that makes entrepreneurs successful.

Just make sure step back and notice whether you’re making forward progress in the most efficient way possible.

If you need some advanced help with that, call my office at 909-297-1662 and ask for my Strategic Online Audit which includes an analysis of how you stack up against your competitors, conversion review, fast start action steps, and a 60-minute consultation call with yours truly.

Cheers!

Philipp

P.S. If you schedule yours by June 30th you’ll get 20% off as part of my “Get Me A Horsey” promotion to get riding lessons for my daughter.  Hoodathunk they’d be so pricey!

You remember the line from the movie, don’t you?

“Wax on, wax off!”

It’s easily in my Top 10 of favorite movies, right between The Godfather and Pumping Iron (go figure).

When most people think of karate, they immediately picture sweeping punches and spinning back kicks in the air.

But according to Mr. Miyagi, that was only a small part if the picture.

If you recall, Mr. Miyagi didn’t get into punches and kicks until MUCH later in the training.  All that painting, waxing, and sanding was teaching Daniel-san the most important concept of all – how to DEFEND himself.

It’s much the same way with online marketing.

So many just plain do it wrong and use a one-dimensional offensive approach – the main tactic being, “rank my website #1 on Google.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do that.  What I am saying is that once you get to that coveted position, then what?  There are still 9 other spots (in the organic search results) that can throw punches and kicks your way.

So what should you do?  You follow Mr. Miyagi’s instruction and defend yourself against them by – and here’s the key – taking away their opportunity to attack you.

The MORE spots on Google’s first page you can claim for yourself means FEWER spots available to your competition.

And in order to do that, you need to leverage more online real estate than a lone website.

Multiple niche sites, mini-sites, photos, blogs, video, social media, and articles strategically targeting the right keywords are essential tools in an effective defense.

If you need some help creating and implementing a solid internet marketing plan just call us at 909-297-1662 and request our Strategic Online Audit.

Cheers!

Philipp

When I was a kid, I wake up at 5:30am every Saturday morning, well before everyone else.  I’d make myself some hot chocolate, wrap my blanket around me, plop down on the couch, remote control in hand, and wait in gleeful anticipation for my cartoon marathon to begin.

Unfortunately, my oldest daughter hasn’t established her own, solitary early morning ritual as of yet.  At 2 years old she still prefers everyone else to accompany her in her exploits.

This past Saturday I wake up to a faint knock at our bedroom door.

“Daddy…”

I manage to pry my left eye open wide enough to see the clock.  7:14 am.

I hear the door creak open and little feet pattering closer towards me.

“Wake up, Dada, it’s morning time.”

She had just started saying that a few days earlier.  It seemed so cute the first time, when I was awake.  Not so much this morning.  I keep my eyes shut, hoping she’ll give up.

“Let’s go downstairs, Dad. It’s morning time!”  Louder this time, patting me above the covers.  Nothing.

“Come one! Wake up!” Shouting and pulling the blankets off of my body.  I’m definitely awake now, but still pretend to sleep, trying hard to keep from smiling.

“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” She’s shaking a toy tambourine in my face (where the heck did she get that?) like she’s performing with the Partridge Family.  That one works.

“Okay, okay!” I say, laughing as I pry the noisemaker from her tiny hands.

It turned out to be a great morning.  I cooked a killer breakfast (probably my best batch of home fries EVER).  And we went for a nice walk around the neighborhood.

When it comes to your business, sales, marketing, do you act like a 2-year-old?

- Do you have a clear result in mind?

- Do you put yourself out there to move towards your goal?

- Do you notice whether your actions are working?

- Do you try something else when they aren’t working?

- Are you so committed to achieving your goal that you’ll try anything, even if it’s “shaking a tambourine”?

The road to entrepreneurial success isn’t always a nice and neat straight path.  In fact, most of the time it’s the exact opposite.

No matter what they (the gurus, the PhDs, the talking heads) are touting, there is no ONE way that will work EVERY time.

Not many people will openly teach you that.

Thank goodness for 2-year-olds.

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

This may sound a little crazy to you – okay, probably A LOT crazy – but when I go to the beach, before I jump into the crashing waves, I’ll sometimes ask myself, “Did you cut yourself shaving this morning?”

(Now normally that’s not a problem because I don’t shave often at all.  Not because I’m lazy, but because it takes my face about 3 days to grow a 5 o’clock shadow.)

Here’s the one-word answer as to why I ask myself that question…

SHARKS

I know.  Crazy.

But did you know that sharks have such a highly developed olfactory system that they can can smell a single drop of blood from up to a mile away?

Don’t ask me HOW they can do that. All I know is that freaks me out.

Now whether you feel the same about sharks and beaches, there is at least one other creature on the planet that has the same keen sense of smell and SHOULD freak you out…

YOUR PROSPECTS

Back when I was in corporate sales where you were expected to bring in a minimum amount of orders every month, there was a term we used to describe some of the “newbies” that were desperate to meet their number in the last few days.

We said that those guys had “quota breath”.

You couldn’t see or smell it, but it was there.  There was something about them that screamed, “I really need this sale and I’ll do or say anything to get it.”

To your prospects that have KEENLY developed a nose for it, just the tiniest amounts will set alarm bells off in their heads that typically lead to the loss of a sale, or worse, signing a bad deal.

One HUGE tipoff of quota breath is giving a discount for no reason at all.

When that happens, a “vacuum” is created that needs to be filled.  So in lieu of a reason from you, the prospect will fill it in with their own.  Either “the product isn’t as good as he says” or “he needs the sale so I can probably squeeze out a bigger discount”.

Neither of those end up any good for you.

So it’s probably a good idea for you to give your sales and marketing promotions a little Listerine treatment and make sure you’re giving reasons for what you’re doing.

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

P.S. My Marketing Mashup Monthly “snail mail” Newsletter is going out next week with a surprise “April Showers” lesson that ONLY subscribers will get.  If you want to be sure I send you your free copy, click on the following link and let me know where to send it: http://www.maramimarketing.com/mmmsignup

I’m gonna get a little personal here…

Over the years I’ve noticed that I’ve drifted apart from a few of my oldest friends.

One in particular was a roommate both during and after college, having helped each other through some of the toughest times in our lives.

Yet here we are, years later, and we barely talk, let alone get together for a drink.

Sure, I could chalk a good portion of that up to juggling my businesses, two daughters, date nights with my wife, extended family events, and two dogs.

But after I thought about it and was truly honest with myself, I had to admit that I simply lost interest.

Given our history, it was perplexing to me…until he came to my daughter’s birthday party.

In between the festivities I finally got to take a breather and sit down with him and I asked, “So, how’s it goin, dude?”

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Eh, not much. Just the same old stuff.”

THAT’S WHEN IT HIT ME SQUARE IN THE FOREHEAD!

For the past few years, that had become his catchphrase: same old stuff.

Even when I knew there was more than that going on, he’d still say it.

To say the least, when the person you’re talking opens the conversation with that, it’s pretty much downhill from there.

When people ask, “How’s it going?” or any variation of that invitation (whether it’s asking you directly or by opening your newsletter or blog), what they’re REALLY asking is:

WHAT’S NEW??

It’s like a never-ending song playing in the subconscious mind.

And if you can’t communicate that to them in a way that gets them as excited, they too will lose interest.

Of course, I’m not so fickle and am pretty well invested in my friend and will go out of my way to make sure we keep interest in each other.

Unfortunately, customers are not that forgiving.

What can you do today to answer your customers asking, “What’s New?”

Cheers to your success!

Philipp

P.S. We’ve got a new guest speaker coming in from Las Vegas to present at our marketing meeting in Pasadena next Tuesday evening February 22nd.  If you’re in the area and would like to join us, just click the link below:

http://www.maramimarketing.com/gkicfree

P.P.S. Because I’m working feverishly to complete two books in the next few weeks, I’m running a little behind on completing my “snail mail” Marketing Mashup Monthly newsletter and I won’t get it out until March. But if you want to make sure you still get it, just submit it here:

http://www.maramimarketing.com/mmmsignup

I’m not sure if you caught this news the last couple of weeks…

In mid-January a law firm filed a class-action suit against Taco Bell claiming false advertising.

The suit alleges that the restaurant does not serve “real beef.”

Last Friday, Taco Bell counter sued.

On top of that, they took out full page newspaper ads across the country with the following headline:

“Thank you for suing us. Here’s the truth about our seasoned beef.”

Whether or not the suit has any merit (I, for one, find myself making a “run for the border” every couple of weeks and could care less what they put in it), let’s pay HUGE kudos to Taco Bell for their attempt at turning making lemonade.

Rather than keep it quiet to avoid possible embarrassment, they used it as a marketing opportunity and shared the ingredients of their secret blend of beef and spices.

This “silver lining” strategy is nothing new.

Groupon’s CEO did a similar thing last month in a video apologizing to their Japanese customers when they were unable to fulfill on their offers.  He devoted a good amount of the video to sharing all quality assurance processes they were rolling out.

I would recommend one slight modification to enhance Taco Bell’s approach though…

They could have used it as an excuse to sell more products, similar to “we’re moving” and “scratch & dent” promotions.

Instead of leaving it as just a counterpunch to save their reputation, they could have tied a promotion to it and increase sales.

Maybe offer a free or heavily discounted taco or burrito for a limited time (provided that it’s profitable).

Any situation can be turned into a reason to buy from you.

What excuse could you use for your business today?

Cheers to your success!

Philipp